News

NetPlus AllianceSeptember 27, 2016

Kimberly Pigeon, National Sales Manager and Tim Wagner, VP Technical Product Sales of Buffalo Abrasives Inc., will be attending the NetPlus Alliance annual meeting in San Antonio, TX October 2-4, 2016. If you wish to make an appointment please call 888-311-3856 or e-mail sales@buffaloabrasives.com.

IMTSSeptember 12, 2016

Arthur Russ, President and Kimberly Pigeon, National Sales Manager of Buffalo Abrasives will be attending the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS 2016) in Chicago, Illinois September 13-14th. If you wish to meet with them, please call 888-311-3856 to make an appointment.

Buffalo Abrasives, Inc. is looking for Industrial Distributors in selected geographical areas of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. We offer high performance engineered products, technical support, competitive pricing, on-time deliveries and fast responses to inquiries. We do not require exclusivity or stock orders. Please contact us by phone, fax or e-mail.

Sales RepresentativesJune 30, 2016

Buffalo Abrasives, Inc. is searching for Independent Sales Representatives for selected geographical territories in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and other countries. Candidates should have experience in selling Industrial end-users through distribution. Grinding wheel application experience is a plus. Candidates should submit qualifications and a line card to sales@buffaloabrasives.com

ISA ConventionApril 26, 2015

Buffalo Abrasives' staff will be attending the 2015 ISA Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on April 26-27th. If you wish to meet with us, please call 888-311-3856 to make an appointment.

Community OutreachOctober 22, 2014

A newly formed Cub Scout Pack, #824, was recently the recipient of a New York State flag generously donated by Buffalo Abrasives through the efforts of Shannon Stoelting, BAI Accounting/Traffic employee on behalf of her son, Jacob. Click to view pictures.

Safety Poster Winners 2014August 21, 2014

Please see the attached. Each year Buffalo Abrasives sponsors a contest for children of company employees. This year's winner was 5 year old Brandon Kemp, grandson of Kelly Martin, pictured here with CEO Jeff Binkley. Click to view the 2014 Safety Poster winner.

Niagara River Ice BoomApril 28, 2014

Officials from the International Niagara Board of Control said that, weather permitting, work on removing the Niagara River Ice Boom will begin 4/29/14. Timing of the removal of the ice boom is determined by the International Joint Commission’s Niagara Board of Control. Typically, the ice boom is removed when there is less than 250 square miles of ice remaining in the eastern end of Lake Erie. This year more than 15 percent of Lake Erie was still ice-covered on 4/18/14, the highest percentage in more than 40 years, even topping the brutal winter of 1977-78.

Boom installation may begin when the water temperature reaches 39 degrees. The 1.7-mile long boom is installed at the entrance of the Niagara River to strengthen the natural ice arch that forms almost every year. That minimizes the amount of ice flowing down the river, which minimizes property damage and aids in hydroelectric production.

Our Traffic Department has negotiated lower LTL freight rates for 2014. In some shipping lanes it may be cheaper and faster to use one of our Preferred LTL Carriers rather than UPS. For additional information please contact Shannon Stoelting (X202 or sstoelting@buffaloabrasives.com.

CMTSAugust 29, 2013

Please visit us at the Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show, (Booth # 6300) September 30th through October 3rd at the International Center in Mississauga, Ontario. Save the $45 entry fee by registering at cmts.ca with promo code 10102890.

25th AnniversaryAugust 2, 2013

Buffalo Abrasives, Inc. is proud to announce that 2013 marks the 25th year anniversary of our inception. The company was originally founded in 1988 by John R. Russ, who led as president with great charisma until sadly passing away earlier this year. Under Russ, Buffalo Abrasives grew from a small company of 10 customers to a manufacturer serving more than 2,000 users worldwide. Building our reputation on outstanding customer service and continuous improvement, we are now a supplier of over 12,000 products and 7,000 product formulations and have sold more than 23 million grinding wheels.

2013 Safety Poster WinnerJuly 26, 2013

Please see the attached. Each year Buffalo Abrasives sponsors a contest for children of company employees. This year's winner was Alex Stoelting, son of Shannon Stoelting, pictured with CEO Jeff Binkley. Click to view the 2013 Safety Poster winner.

John R. Russ, President, Buffalo Abrasives, Inc.January 28, 2013

September 6, 1939 - January 26, 2013

John R. Russ, President of Buffalo Abrasives, died on Saturday, January 26th, 2013 at his home in Clarence, New York. He was 73. As many of you know, John had been battling COPD for many years and recently his condition had taken a turn for the worse.

Buffalo Abrasives, Inc. was John R. Russ's idea back in May of 1988. He was very respected in the abrasives industry and had been one of the key individuals that was responsible for the success of National Grinding Wheel during the last half of the 1900's. His passion for this company was inspiring. He loved working with our staff and employees at BAI, but was always happiest when he was collaborating with our sales team to tailor wheel specifications to perfectly fit the myriad of specific customer applications. He really appreciated all of you, our business partners, your hard work and commitment to our company. He seldom took vacation and when his health allowed, enjoyed most Saturday mornings sitting at his desk entering orders. Over these last twenty-five years, he has guided this company through some very stormy times and his knowledge, experience and wisdom was truly appreciated by all. John was a truly kind and compassionate man. He was always generous with his time, advice and compassion. He taught me so many things over these years and he was a person that always had an interesting story or comforting smile when you talked with him. I could not have asked for a better business partner for these last twenty-five years.

John R. loved his family most of all. John R. is survived by his wife Susan, his three children, Johnny B, Daniel and Kristy, as well as numerous grandchildren. He will be sorely missed.

With the assistance of outside consultants, BAI is implementing Department by Department 5-S Systems. The acronym stands for: "Sort" - removal of unused items; "Shine" - a complete one time “deep clean" of the space under implementation;
"Set In Order" - establishing a place for everything and a method to ensure everything is in its place; "Standardize" - development of consistent and uniform work stations and practices; "Sustain" - creating a method to ensure 5-S tools are used in every day to day workplace situations and as the primary tool in executing improvement ideas or large products such as new capitol equipment.

Organizational ChangesNovember 1, 2011

We are pleased to announce the appointment of "Sally Bradley" to Technical Sales Specialist. Sally will be available to provide technical sales assistance to our entire sales organization. She will work closely with Fred Williams, Sales & Marketing Manager, Ed LaPenna, Quality Assurance Manager and John Russ, President.

Buffalo Abrasives, Inc. continues to strive to meet and exceed the needs of our valued distributors and customers. We recognize the importance, as your custom products provider, to provide top-notch technical and sales assistance on an ongoing basis.

TonawandaJanuary 9, 2009

Buffalo Abrasives is located in the city of North Tonawanda. The city was incorporated in 1836 and the name was derived from the Native American phrase "Ton-ne-won-ta", which means "swift water". This is due to the city's proximity to the west branch of the Niagara River.

According to a report from Global Insight, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area has an economic output of approximately $56 Billion per year. In a listing of Nations and Metropolitan areas, this ranks Western New York as 99. This position is about the same as the country of Kuwait, slightly ahead of Richmond, VA and slightly behind Milwaukee, WI. The report lists a population of 1.1 million, an area of 1,568 square miles and average annual snow fall of 97 inches (yikes).

New Ethanol Plant in Buffalo...August 1, 2007

A dormant cluster of grain elevators and milling facilities on the
Buffalo River will come back to life as an ethanol production plant in
Spring 2008. The plant will produce 110 million gallons of ethanol
annually and create 65 full-time jobs. The $80 million ethanol project
will use four mothballed grain elevators, along with two former flour
mills and a malting house (dating to the 1880's). Some 40 million
bushels of corn would be delivered to the plant each year. The bulk of
the corn would arrive by as many as 60 lake freighters, a throwback to
Buffalo's heyday as a milling capital. In addition to producing more
than 100 million gallons of pure ethanol annually, the plant will create
an estimated 400,000 tons of livestock feed grain as a byproduct of the
process. Sales of liquid carbon dioxide, another byproduct of the
distilling process, will provide additional revenue. The plant's heavy
use of water for corn processing will have a side benefit of discharging
clean, highly oxygenated water into the turbid, slow-moving Buffalo
River. The existing infrastructure in Buffalo will allow the company to build its
plant at a cost 30 percent below the "build from scratch" industry
norm. The future of Buffalo's inventory of idle grain and cement
elevators has been a growing cause for concern in the preservation
community. Reuse options have proved elusive, raising the likelihood
they'll face the wrecking ball, as did the H-O Oats silos in Buffalo's
Cobblestone District that were torn down to make way for the Seneca Buffalo
Creek Casino.

October Snow StormDecember 20, 2006

A freak snow storm hit a narrow area at the foot of Lake Erie on October 12, 2006. The storm's path included the Buffalo Abrasives plant in North Tonawanda. Snow fall totals were in a range of 15" to 30". Several hundred motorists were stranded in their vehicles for as long as 12 hours. In that leaves were still on the trees, there was a tremendous amount of damage. It was estimated that one of every three trees was heavily damaged or destroyed. Falling limbs brought down power lines and hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity for 1 to 10 days. Inactive sump pumps resulted in flooded basements. Roads were impassable. Generators, flashlights and bottled water sold out quickly. 1000 emergency crews from all over the country arrived to help restore power and assist with the clean-up. Some FEMA crews thought the devastation was worse than Katrina and they were still cleaning up in mid-December. The area's landscape has changed and it will likely take a generation to be restored.